Humanity in the Verse
The origins of humanity in the current local cluster of stars is one of certainty, but also some mystery. It is certain that there were several colonization ships sent from Earth. The core worlds still teach that all of the humans came from that original cadre of eleven colony ships. This is not the case, though. Though the core worlds share their origins with what is known as The First Cadre, other colony vessels arrived afterward. These ships didn't claim to be originally from the earth. Some came from other places in the Solar System, others from other planets unheard of in the history of the First Cadre, and even some with questionable origin stories of other planets having nothing to do with Earth at all. All of the First Cadre ships had some commonalities. Each vessel had a special interest group and goals. Some were organized from companies back on Earth looking to gain a foothold in a new and emerging economy. These formed the first Plutocracy governments. Others were fringe religious groups looking for a promised land to set down roots. Each also had what was called an Ark kit. This "kit" was a laboratory for designing genetic alterations. Some were evolutionary kits, which changed the base genome of the human passengers over time, but those mutations almost always gave rise to terminator genes that caused sterility in future generations. Those generations didn't see a long history. The most successful Ark kits were called "genejack" augmentations. They were genetic modifications added during a baby's second trimester in the womb. This did not affect the reproductive abilities of prospective parents or the physical traits of their children. Genejack augmentations were designed to give certain benefits to a child that would allow them to be successful in a certain environment. Some would make bones more compact and stronger for higher gravity worlds, others would make the bones more flexible and porous for low gravity conditions. Some modifications could make you be able to process oxygen from fluids, food from sunlight, and a myriad of enhancements not thought to be in the realm of human capabilities. In future generations, when the horrors of war reached this new conclave of humanity, genejack augmentations were designed to create super soldiers. On many worlds it is considered highly irresponsible not to prepare a genejack treatment for your future children, although there are fringe religious sects who consider the opposite to be taboo. The soldiering group of humanity did actually unite to become a single entity purposed with maintaining order and protecting the peace. This group were dubbed the Union Federalist Reserve, making up a force several times larger than each planet's own security forces. The Federalist upkeep is maintained by the Core Worlds, as well as outposts in the Median and Rim Worlds. The current factions offer only genejack treatments that benefit their colonies in a specific kit. This is called a Faction Genejack Kit, and it marks the augmented person as a member of that faction, or an expatriate of that faction, for life. The other option is for a parent to consider offering their child up for adoption in exchange for a tax break from the Union Federalist Reserve. If they do this, they give up all rights and contact with that child at the age of eleven, who gets to be raised in a Federalist Creche, which helps them decide their military careers. Apart from the Federalist military faction, there are over a hundred registered Factions. They range in variation, strength, size, and orthodoxy. They can be formed from religious, economic, scientific, and cultural roots of such uniqueness as to be almost completely alien to other factions of humanity in some cases. With others, it can produce factions with eternal and unyielding enmity between them. Only those adventurous souls who find Freehold Guilds can find almost complete acceptance. These are groups of common interests who have found that diversity is the spice of their trade. These guilds are based in the Freehold Worlds in the Median of space.